Beyond: Two Souls Review
Jared reviews Beyond: Two Souls, which is made by the same people who made Heavy Rain. Synopsis Beyond: Two Souls is from the same people behind Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit, so Jared knew what to expect coming into this game. Lots of cutscenes and quick time events, but he didn't expect it to be this much of a mess. Jared discusses the plot and basic mechanics. The choices given to the player in dialog boxes are very superficial, and have no impact on the outcome. They can provide some extra details, but these are usually unimportant, and quickly forgotten. Refusing to do something will have the character doing it anyway! The game goes into slow motion to allow the player to perform quick time events. The game doesn't tell the player which way to move, but having to guess where Jodie is moving - which is a neat idea, but often, it isn't obvious which way to click. It gives conflicting information. Failing doesn't have any impact, and the outcome was exactly the same when Jared put the controller down entirely. Jared didn't realize that the game was going to be this scripted. The only thing this game has going for it is the ghost abilities, and they are limited by what the game tells the player what to do, and is very conflicting. Some enemies can be attacked by the ability, other's aren't. There is no explanation for this, and the game is very linear with no creativity. There are only two spots to use powers. One is a stealthy CIA mission, which is still heavily scripted, but the idea is cool. There is also another moment where other characters need to be lead to Jodie. It is very basic and limited, but an interesting idea. Any fun is removed from controlling Idin - the main draw of the game. He is disorientating, and all of his actions involve flicking the analogue sticks. Sometimes his powers come off as lame rather than powerful. Any time Jodie is in danger, Idin can protect her from anything. Beyond: Two Souls is not a good game. Jared liked Heavy Rain more, because the player's actions alter the plot. It is barely a game, and desperately wants to be a movie. So, Jared decides to look at it as a movie. The plot is bad, but the acting is good, and the cutscenes are well animated. In game movement is stil robotic, and the script is cringe inducing. At least they are said with conviction. The plot and characters lack depth with no character development given to any of them. Several side characters have a single trait, and then forgotten about. Everything is told rather than shown to the viewer. Jodie has a date and gives a speech about how he is kind and caring, but in every other scene, he was an unlikable dickhead. This was all David Cage's choice of giving non-linear story telling. Events do not happen in order, so most scenes are useless and are unrelated to each other. On it's own the Navaho desert is one of the best moments in the game. But it has nothing to do with the story. There are too many loose threads that are never explained. Everything that isn't when Jodie is a CIA agent is just filler. The CIA agents have nothing to do with anything. The actual plot is mostly only seen in the last few chapters. The last few sequences get wacky. The overall game is not very good. The cutscenes and much better acting are big step ups from Heavy Rain. The gameplay is worse with inconsequential actions and underwhelming ghost powers. The plot takes too long to establish itself. The game is overall disappointing. It deserves a 4 out of 10, and it may be worth renting at best as it is very short. At least the player can see a virtual Ellen Page is her underwear - she looks like a boy! Category:Reviews Category:Videos